Nashan (

Minaean The Minaean people were the inhabitants of the kingdom of Ma'in ( Minaean: ''Maʿīn''; modern Arabic ''Maʿīn'') in modern-day Yemen, dating back to the 10th century BCE-150 BCE. It was located along the strip of desert called Ṣayhad by ...

: romanized: , ; modern day Kharbat Al-Sawda', ar, خربة السوداء, translit=Ḵirba al-Sawdāʾ) is the name of an ancient

South Arabia South Arabia () is a historical region that consists of the southern region of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia, mainly centered in what is now the Republic of Yemen, yet it has also historically included Najran, Jizan, Al-Bahah, and 'Asi ...

n city in the northern al-Jawf region of present day

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

, in the territory of the ancient Kingdom of Ma'in. The city was called Nestum in the ''Natural History'' book that was written by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

History

Nashan, located near "Al-Khārid river" along with the neighboring

Kaminahu Kaminahu ( ar, مملكة كمنه; Old South Arabic: 𐩫𐩣𐩬𐩠𐩥 ''kmnhw''; modern Kamna) is the name of an ancient South Arabian city in the northern al-Jawf region of present day Yemen, 107 km north-east of Sana'a at about 1100 m ...

Haram ''Haram'' (; ar, حَرَام, , ) is an Arabic term meaning 'Forbidden'. This may refer to either something sacred to which access is not allowed to the people who are not in a state of purity or who are not initiated into the sacred knowle ...

and

Nashaq Nashaq (Minaean: romanized: ; modern day Kharbat Al-Bayda', ar, خربة البيضاء) is the name of an ancient South Arabian city in the northern al-Jawf region of present-day Yemen, in the territory of the ancient Kingdom of Ma'in. Hist ...

in the region of al-Jawf, was a separate city state. Around 715 BC, it was initially annexed by Yitha'amar Watar I of

Saba Saba may refer to: Places * Saba (island), an island of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea * Şaba (Romanian for Shabo), a town of the Odesa Oblast, Ukraine * Sabá, a municipality in the department of Colón, Honduras * Saba (river), ...

. Subsequently,

Karib'il Watar Karib'il Watar (Sabaean language, Sabaean: , romanized: ; 7th century BCE), sometimes distinguished as was probably the most important List of rulers of Saba and Himyar, ruler of the early days of the Sabaeans, Sabaean Kingdom. He is sometimes re ...

(around 685 BC) launched a campaign to capture Nashan and Nashaq which lasted for three years. Eventually, he managed to subdue both cities, and to dedicate his triumph to his god

Almaqah Almaqah or Almuqh ( xsa, 𐩱𐩡𐩣𐩤𐩠; ar, المقه; gez, አልመቀህ) was the Moon god of the ancient Yemeni kingdom of Saba'. He was also worshipped in the kingdom of Dʿmt, which later became the kingdom of Aksum in Ethiopia ...

. A stela of Yatha' Amar Watar dated to about 715 BC, tells that he invaded the area and took the town. It reads:

'' Yatha amar Watar son of Yakrubmalik mukarrib of Saba dedicated to Aranyada' the patron when Aranyada came back from the territories of Aranyada' and of Nashshan and avenged Nashshan at the expense of Kaminahu because Nashahn had maintained the alliance of Almaqah and of Aranyada', of Yatha amar and of Malikwaqah, of Saba of nashshan, because of ... of god and parton of pact and alliance.''

In 25 BC, Nashan was mentioned as "''Annestum''" during Aelius Gallus's expedition to

Arabia Felix Arabia Felix (literally: Fertile/Happy Arabia; also Ancient Greek: Εὐδαίμων Ἀραβία, ''Eudaemon Arabia'') was the Latin name previously used by geographers to describe South Arabia, or what is now Yemen. Etymology The term Arabia ...

under orders of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

against Saba'. However, the expedition ended in critical failure and the Romans accused a

Nabataean The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Lev ...

guide called "Syllaeus" of misleading them. This expedition was mentioned by

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

geographer

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

in which he named

Ilasaros Ilasaros (centuryBCE) or Il Sharih Yahdhib ( xsa, 𐩱𐩡 𐩦𐩧𐩢 𐩺𐩢𐩳𐩨, ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb; ar, إلشرح يحضب) was a king from the Bakil tribe, related to the Banu Hamdan, which took control over the Kingdom of Sabaʾ. H ...

as the ruler of

Hadhramaut Hadhramaut ( ar, حَضْرَمَوْتُ \ حَضْرَمُوتُ, Ḥaḍramawt / Ḥaḍramūt; Hadramautic: 𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩩, ''Ḥḍrmt'') is a region in South Arabia, comprising eastern Yemen, parts of western Oman and southern Sau ...

at that time.

Culture

Nashshān, was in

Wādī Madhāb Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water o ...

,Leonid Kogan and

Andrey Korotayev Andrey Vitalievich Korotayev (russian: link=yes, Андре́й Вита́льевич Корота́ев; born 17 February 1961) is a Russian anthropologist, economic historian, comparative political scientist, demographer and sociologist, ...

: Sayhadic Languages (Epigraphic South Arabian). Semitic Languages. London: Routledge, 1997. Pg. 221. to the north-east of

Ma'rib Marib ( ar, مَأْرِب, Maʾrib; Old South Arabian: 𐩣𐩧𐩨/𐩣𐩧𐩺𐩨 ''Mryb/Mrb'') is the capital city of Marib Governorate, Yemen. It was the capital of the ancient kingdom of ''Sabaʾ'' ( ar, سَبَأ), which some scholars ...

and was a trading center and town in

Pre-Islamic Arabia Pre-Islamic Arabia ( ar, شبه الجزيرة العربية قبل الإسلام) refers to the Arabian Peninsula before the History of Islam, emergence of Islam in 610 CE. Some of the settled communities developed into distinctive civilizati ...

. Nashshān, and its neighbours,

Haram (Yemen) Haram (; Old South Arabian 𐩠𐩧𐩣 ''hrm-m'', with mimation ''Haramum'') (known today as Kharibat Hamdān and Kharibat ʾl ʿAlī) is an ancient city in the north of al-Jawf in modern-day Yemen, at about 1100 metres above sea level. It is bo ...

and Inabba' were similar in that they were civil temple settlements and city states, and inscriptions in all four towns are in the

Minaean language The Minaean language (also Minaic, Madhabaic or Madhābic) was an Old South Arabian or Ṣayhadic language spoken in Yemen in the times of the Old South Arabian civilisation. The main area of its use may be located in the al-Jawf region of North- ...

External links

Archive for the study of ancient south Arabian inscriptions in Kharibat as-Sawda

Notes

References

{{Tourist attractions in Yemen Archaeological sites in Yemen City-states